Global Courant 2023-05-21 18:15:00
HIROSHIMA, Japan — U.S. President Joe Biden said on Sunday that the Group of Seven (G-7) countries had agreed on a joint approach to China, calling for diversification of supply chains to reduce dependence on one country, and hinted that he is with the soon to be Chinese president.
“We don’t want to disconnect from China. We are trying to shrink and diversify our relationship with China,” Biden told a news conference, adding that the G-7 countries were more united than ever in terms of “together resisting economic coercion and countering harmful practices that our workers”.
But the US president said after a three-day meeting of G-7 leaders that he expected a thaw in frosty relations with China “very soon” after tensions sparked by an incident earlier in 2023 when the United States shot down a Chinese balloon flying over sensitive military areas.
“We should have an open hotline,” Biden said. He said he agreed with Chinese President Xi Jinping at a Group of 20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, in 2022 to keep communications open, but that everything changed after “this silly balloon that carried two boxcars worth of spy equipment.” .
Mr Biden suggested that there could be a shift in US-China relations soon, echoing his remark to reporters before his departure.
“As for talking to them, I think you’ll see that thaw very soon,” he said.
On tensions between China and Taiwan, Mr. Biden said most allies clearly agreed that if China acted unilaterally against Taiwan, there would be a reaction.
“We’re not going to tell China what they can do,” he said, “but in the meantime, we’re going to put Taiwan in a position where they can defend themselves.”
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen on Saturday vowed to maintain the status quo of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait amid high tensions with China, which has stepped up military pressure on the democratically governed island.
Biden reiterated that the US and its G-7 allies would not trade in materials that would allow China to build weapons of mass destruction, but that was “not a hostile act.”
He said he would not consider easing restrictions on China on that material, but negotiations were underway over whether to lift sanctions against Chinese general Li Shangfu, who was appointed as China’s new defense minister in March. relaxed.
Mr Li has been under US sanctions since 2018 for purchasing fighter jets and equipment from Russia’s top arms exporter. REUTERS
